Read instructional blogs from others that show you what to do in the Rain and how to do it.
Post blogs that have instructional information for Active Rain.
Do not post anything else in this group! It will be deleted from the group. (This includes meme's, listings, point & achievement stories, market reports, anything about banks, foreclosures, how to use technology and how to blog not pertaining to active rain.) More on topics included & deleted.
93 Comments on Welcome Active Rain Newbies: Read Me First
MAY
15
2007
Anyone have a good blog post explaining the difference between views and clicks? That question is asked by a lot of newbies. I want to share the answer as one of the links, but I have never bookmarked one of the answer blogs and I am having a hard time locating one.
Not to toot my own horn, but my post on groups would be helpful for newbies on how to use them... Glad to see you are working on cleaning this one up, too. I noticed that it has become a dumping ground for people to place their posts.
Jason - Thanks for that. I think your post about groups is excellent. I updated the list to include that one.
Also just another thought I wanted to add to this page (not in reply to Jason) but if you are reading this... I tried not to duplicate links on this page that are already in the community resources. The links I include here are ones to good, pertitent articles that are not a part of the community resources.
Angie - Thanks for doing this. I know it took a lot of work. I just pointed my first member here. I've saved the URL as a bookmark for quick cut and pasting.
What are the rules about discussing or encouraging fee rates and commisions? I assume since this group is actively moderated that anything left posted is 'approved'?
I believe the discussion of fees/commissions is actually prohibited in AR... you may want to check the AR guidelines to confirm before posting comments or blogs on this topic.
Angie,
Can you believe that the groups 101 is not part of the AR Community Resources? The AR gods wrote an post sometime ago calling it the first official post on the understanding and using of groups. My how fast they forget sometimes. :)
Mike - thanks for your thoughts. It helped put it in place.
Jason Smith - Jason Price is correct - Active Rain advises not discussing fees and commissions. In fact they made a post about it recently. There may be posts currently included in the group that should not be here. It will take some time to clean up older posts.
Jason Price - I just can't believe it :) It really is a good post on groups.
Marc - I agree with you about how many people don't pay attention when posting to groups, or don't understand, or think their post will get greater exposure etc. We now have added several new moderators to this group though. Hopefully it will make it easier to keep up with.
When we post to our blogs there is a warning that pops-up about Copywrited material. What kinds of things are they concerned about here? Can someone give me some examples of things that may get someone in trouble.
I went to your recommended URL regarding copyright laws. I didn't have my attorney with me so I escaped really fast. I guess I'll just keep my mouth shut.
Message about copyright laws.... To simplify it here is the way I look at it - Don't post content that is not yours. This includes not plagarizing text that someone else wrote. It also involves photos that you use in your post. You just can't go to google images and get pictures etc. You have to either find free license photos, or have purchased them, or have them be your own etc.
I wish I would have read this all in the very beginning. I started up 2 weeks ago and have found myself getting stuck in the initial blogs that come up. Thanks for all the great info here.
Hi, The Lovely Wife... I have deleted a lot of blogs from the Active Rain Newbies Group. We also have a few other moderators now that are helping to keep the group to topic. I cannot think of a specific post of yours that I have deleted, but I have deleted a lot of posts over the last few weeks, and I can't remember all of them. So I may very well have removed one from the group.
I am using criteria as outlined above... if the post is about how to get started in Active Rain or do things in Active Rain (either asking questions or providing answers etc) or if it is someone's introductory post etc it is appropriate for this group. Posts about how to sell real estate or about listings or mortgages or someone's aunt polly etc or on other topics are not to group topic.
I am not sure where the comment is that you are referring to in your last post... but if you would email me a link to a blog that has been removed from the group, I would certainly take a look and give my thoughts on why I thought it was removed and/or take a second look if it should be included. The goal is not to delete posts that belong, it is to keep the value of the group up and be able to provide those resources for those new to this site.
Thanks for the clarification. I posted my very first post on here because I was thinking we were supposed too. It was not newby relevant so now I know better. There is so much to read here that I wonder if I ever can catch up. I am learning from all of the tips provide by the generous people here but being one wanting to get some things out there, I need to be writing too. Please pardon my mistakes as I learn this new world.
Good Morning Karen, That would be a nice feature of groups to be able to pinpoint always at the top certain posts. But at least we can keep the link in the sidebar to this post. I think that is helpful, having it right in the group description.
I am new to both real estate and blogging. This article has been very helpful and informative. I am bookmarking it because I still have so much more to read! Thanks!
Roberta and Larry - thanks for stopping by. Glad you found it helpful. I know it sometimes takes a while to hunt down all this stuff when you first get on the site! Good luck. Have fun.
Matt - Thanks for your comments. Glad you found this info helpful. There certainly is a lot to take in when you first get here - and even after you've been here a while :)
Angie: Thanks again for all this great information, I've added it as a link to my post and bookmarked it so I can keep coming back to it. Thanks again.
Love this group - still wading through the tons of information! Thanks for giving all newbies an opportunity to grow and develop as everyone has done previous to us - without all the banging our head against a brick wall!
Hello Angie! Thanks for writing this blog....I have been on AR since December and only found it because I was told about it by Bob, AR Support! Wish I would have found it earlier....seems like a easy thing to find once you know where it is...but the site is overwhelming when you are a newbie! I will be sharing this information with others I meet and bring to the site!
Thank you for the information over load...hopefully by this time next year I will catch on! Seriously this group looks like it should have the answers to any question I may have. Again, Thanks!
Hi all! Have been an AR member for a while, but just starting with blogging. I've read thru so much and I still can't figure out how to change my signature to include my company name. If it's under "edit profile", I'm missing it! Mine instead says "name, edit, delte"??
This is another great welcome post. I know how much work goes into a post like this, just wanted to say I sure appreciate all your time and efforts here. Thanks for your willingness to share with new members and for welcoming them so warmly. :-)
Hi Angie,I feel terrible...I have to confess! I did not read your guidelines for the group throughly when I first joined AR a year ago, and have been posting things to help agents with their real estate business instead of how to do_______ on AR. Please forgive me it will not happen again. Also disregard the e-mail. Thanks for having this great place to go and learn how to use AR, it is awesome.
Thanks Liz.... I just sent a reply to your email before I read this. No worries, we have a lot of people that post to the group before reading the guidelines. Glad you figured it out - that's all that matters. :)
Hi everyone, My name is Neal Barnes, I am a Broker Associate with Realty World in Central Texas. I am new to ActiveRain. I recently finished my profile and I have invited a few others to ActiveRain. This is my first post. I am not sure if this is the right place, I was reading instructions on how to blog in the Active Rain Newbies Blog, and started getting a headache. I hope this does not get deleted right away. I noticed that there are many people her that I know already. Anyway, I hope to get to know more of you. Thanks Neal
Hi Neal, Welcome to Active Rain. There certainly is a lot of information to take in here.... espcially when you first get here. Just read a little bit at a time.
You've actually just left a comment on my blog. You haven't started your blog yet. If you wanted to start your blog... with the information you posted in this comment you would need to type/paste it into a new blog post for your blog. There are a couple ways to get this. Click "My Home" link at top. Then click "Post" next to "My Blog" link on the left navigation section.
Hi Melissa, I don't remember remove removing one of your posts. We have several moderators though so it was likely another one. However I just went and looked through your blog. I don't see any posts on a topic that is instructional for an active rain newbie or an introduction etc. Those are the subjects for posts included in this group. Posts about the market, events, real estate are not the same topic intended for this group. If you have a specific post that you feel should be included, please let me know the link to the post and I will check it out. Thanks.
I'm LEAVING THE GROUP. I'm tired of things that I think would be helpful being deleted. Most groups are too lenient, you guys have gone way over the top in the other direction. There is a line between being diligent and being totally ridiculous and you crossed it long ago.
I wrote a nice short post on the differences between subscribing and having associates and how it was important to remember that a subscription is not an association. This helps newbies CONNECT. I mentioned why I thought it was important for newbies to know. Nevertheless it was deleted.
I tried to play nice but you have made me feel as welcome as bubonic plague. So GOOD BYE!!!!
All very helpful, but also showing me that I have so much to learn! How does everyone find the time to read and respond to everthing, and still have time to work?? Thank you for all the tips. There are some great links in here. I see that I need to spend more time here!
sorry, i changed the wording forf the blog, but possibly not up to par....sorry...i'm still learning...like a rap on the knuckles, i will do better the next time, sorry.
I just had my last post removed from this group and I'm not sure why. I'm very familiar with the rules and I thought that post held a LOT of encouraging and helpful information.
Please help! Can someone point me in the direction of how to create the look for a blog?? I have not been able to find anything like this anywhere. I have a feeling that everything will fall into place as I continue to delve into this Active Rain 'ing' but for now just want a place to start and I have noticed some blogs to be cute, pretty, colorful and some to be just like the top of this page with the Active Rain logo - how do I create mine??
Hi Judith - The people who have customized their blogs are most likely using a free program to do that... one that Danko Marketing created. The owner of the company also blogs here. Here is a link to the customizer - Active Rain Blog Customizer. Give it a try....
My name is Stacie Shirley and I have been in Real Estate for just over a year now and I have been on Active Rain for just 2 days.
I have read tuns of information and can not find out the answer to my very basic question. Ok here it is ......... When you click on the "my home" tab it puts you where it has a box with your messages, How do you reply back to somebody that sent you a message??????? I know you get a copy in your personal email box, but if I reply there will it just send it to their personal email????
I really hope this is posted in the right place and not EVERYWHERE. I am hesitant about posting anything at this point.
Stacie –If you click on any of those "comments" it will link back to your original post. At the bottom of your post you can leave a reply comment (just as you did here)
I just joined ActiveRain and now I joined ActiveRain Newbies. I have been in Real Estate now going on 5 years... But as far as blogging I am what I am a Newbie... I can't wait to get started...
Thanks for all your work in organizing and collecting this information. I've forwarded it to some colleagues that recently signed up on AR. This is a wonderful resource and such a great help. Thank You!!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
Guidelines for the Active Rain Newbies Group 
I feel terrible...I have to confess! I did not read your guidelines for the group throughly when I first joined AR a year ago, and have been posting things to help agents with their real estate business instead of how to do_______ on AR. Please forgive me it will not happen again. Also disregard the e-mail. Thanks for having this great place to go and learn how to use AR, it is awesome.
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